Ex-Porsche CEO Wiedeking's manipulation-probe ruling appealed

Wiedeking, pictured, and former CFO Holger Haerter, were charged in 2012 with market manipulation.

BERLIN -- German prosecutors in Stuttgart have appealed a court decision that ruled former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking won't have to stand trial on market manipulation charges over the use of options in a failed bid to acquire Volkswagen Group.

Prosecutors lodged the motion to meet a deadline and win more time to evaluate their options after the court's decision, their spokesman, Jan Dietzel, said. The one-week deadline would have elapsed today.

"We need to thoroughly review the factual and legal implications of the case," said Dietzel. "Today's move gives us more time for that and will allow us to decide whether to go ahead with the appeal."

The Stuttgart Regional Court on April 24 threw out market-manipulation charges against Wiedeking and ex-Chief Financial Officer Holger Haerter.

Porsche has faced a series of investigations and lawsuits since disclosing in October 2008 that it controlled 74.1 percent of Volkswagen Group, partly through options, and was seeking to acquire 75 percent as part of a takeover strategy. The announcement caused Volkswagen's stock to jump as short sellers raced to buy shares to repay borrowed stock in bets that VW would fall.

The criminal indictment was filed in December 2012 after more than three years of investigations into claims Porsche misled investors during the attempted takeover.